SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - As more people get vaccinated, the question now is whether they'll need a booster shot.
Despite the success of the current COVID-19 vaccines, drug makers are currently working on booster shots but medical experts say at least in the near term that may not be necessary.
“We may not need a booster for two reasons, one is the immune response from the original vaccine has lasted for quite a while and some think it might last for years, and the second, the current vaccines work well against the variants that we have,” Dr. Peter Chin Hong, UCSF infectious disease specialist, said.
Medical experts say that could change if new variants emerge that cannot be controlled by the current vaccines.
“We might eventually need an additional vaccine to cover variants not covered by the current vaccine. We would not be talking about boosters in the sense of boosting your level of antibodies as you would be broadening your level of immunity to other strains as we do with flu every year,” Dr. George Rutherford, UCSF epidemiology professor, said.
So far, there are no signs either a booster or a new vaccine are needed.
“By in large, I think we are in good shape,” Rutherford said.
As we know, COVID-19 is constantly evolving but for now, some positive news as it relates to the boosters.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3vEp2Z8
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